LETTER: DeWitt column dishonest and divisive

Stacy Morgan Tuscaloosa

Published: Thursday, November 22, 2012 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 4:30 p.m.

Dear Editor: The losers of every election cycle are entitled to their fair share of sour grapes. However, even by the usual standards of post-election vitriol, Robert DeWitt’s recent column seems particularly divisive and even appears at odds with itself.

Most notably, DeWitt protests that he feels his motives for voting for Mitt Romney have been unfairly pigeonholed, even as he seeks to dictate precisely why those Americans who voted for Barack Obama did so. By all appearances, this irony is lost on him.

I would not presume to speak for DeWitt’s motivations for supporting the GOP. However, this idea that citizens like DeWitt vote in the interest of the greater good of the country while blacks and Latinos vote only because they want handouts from the government is a racist assertion. It’s Ronald Reagan’s nefarious stereotype of “welfare queens riding around in Cadillacs” all over again.

Likewise with DeWitt’s lament that he feels pigeonholed by Obama supporters as homophobic, but then uses blatantly demeaning language like “gay men, lesbian women and transgender, uh, humans.” (“Transgender men and women” would suffice just fine.)

Equally important, this “voting for government gifts” equation is simply at odds with the fact the vast majority of all American voters — Democratic and Republican, of all races, of all sexual orientations, married and single, rich, middle class, and poor — work hard to support themselves and love this country deeply. To suggest otherwise is intellectually dishonest and divides us on specious grounds.

<p>Dear Editor: The losers of every election cycle are entitled to their fair share of sour grapes. However, even by the usual standards of post-election vitriol, Robert DeWitt's recent column seems particularly divisive and even appears at odds with itself.</p><p>Most notably, DeWitt protests that he feels his motives for voting for Mitt Romney have been unfairly pigeonholed, even as he seeks to dictate precisely why those Americans who voted for Barack Obama did so. By all appearances, this irony is lost on him. </p><p>I would not presume to speak for DeWitt's motivations for supporting the GOP. However, this idea that citizens like DeWitt vote in the interest of the greater good of the country while blacks and Latinos vote only because they want handouts from the government is a racist assertion. It's Ronald Reagan's nefarious stereotype of “welfare queens riding around in Cadillacs” all over again.</p><p>Likewise with DeWitt's lament that he feels pigeonholed by Obama supporters as homophobic, but then uses blatantly demeaning language like “gay men, lesbian women and transgender, uh, humans.” (“Transgender men and women” would suffice just fine.)</p><p>Equally important, this “voting for government gifts” equation is simply at odds with the fact the vast majority of all American voters — Democratic and Republican, of all races, of all sexual orientations, married and single, rich, middle class, and poor — work hard to support themselves and love this country deeply. To suggest otherwise is intellectually dishonest and divides us on specious grounds.</p>